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Donatello’S David: The Putti Speak, Sally A. Struthers Ph.D.

Sally A. Struthers, Ph.D.

As the first approaching life-sized, freestanding, sensuous, bronze nude since Antiquity, Donatello’s bronze David is a critical monument of the Italian Renaissance. It is also one of the most enigmatic. David is nude, but not completely unclothed, wearing a feminine-looking hat and knee-high boots. David holds a rock and a sword, while standing suggestively, on the head of Goliath. He stands in a relaxed contrapposto stance. His left hand, held to his hip, holds a stone. His right hand is resting on an oversized sword, which points downward to the helmet of Goliath, between the feet of David. As Zuraw …